When you look at Svetlana Gromenkova’s tournament poker resume, you see a whole lot of top ten finishes. You also see the occasional events where she has ended up in twenty-eight place and seventy-ninth place, but these are more the exception then the rule. As a whole she has been a consistent, final table threat whenever she has stepped onto the gaming floor. This is the type of consistency that must make her a favorite among people whose living is made posting buy-ins for players and taking a piece of the winnings. Her biggest moment in the sun came on June 8th, 2008 when she concluded the day with a first place finish and her very first World Series of Poker bracelet. She was the champion of the Ladies No Limit Hold’em Tournament.
Svetlana, a native of Moscow who now calls Brooklyn, New York home, didn’t just acquire a huge chip lead and then coast into her first World Series of Poker bracelet; she had to fight, and overcome adversity to do it. When she was heads up against Anh Le, Svetlana suffered a couple of fairly bad beats and Le doubled up right through her. This included tGromenkova’s A-K, being dominated by Anh’s A-5. This is the sort of thing that would have caused a number of other players to go into the sort of funk that would end with them being a WSOP runner-up. In her case she simply regrouped, rebuilt her lead, and then beat the stuffing out of her opponent. This has been the sort of play that has defined her game.
This was her most meaningful win to date, and a highlight to a career that only started in 2005, but this is probably not her last trip to the poker spotlight.
